Page 34 of When the Last One Falls
So, almost a week later, I was still at the house because Lindsey and Pauline had needed a few days to rearrange their living situation to make room for me. The plan was to finally move in this weekend, and I couldn’t wait. Though Brantley had gone missing the second that he’d left my room, I still didn’t want to be where I wasn’t welcomed.
Back at the Skipper’s Lounge, a popular bar and restaurant, Faron had gotten tired of my hatefest on all men everywhere, so he had called Dylan and Huntley, dragging me out, demanding to know everything that was going. It wasn’t necessarily that I’d been keeping secrets, so much as feeling too damn tired to deal with all the advice that was going to be thrown back my way.
“Jesus Christ, did you really call him a rapist?” Huntley asked, her voice sounding pained.
I shook my head. “No,” I denied. “It…not like that.”
“I’m still confused, Shopgirl,” Faron said. “You didn’t actuallyhearhim say that he was in agreement with his father, right?”
“It wasn’t like Brantley was objecting, Faron,” I reminded him. “Nowhere in there did Brantley argue against it or tell his father that he was with me because hewantedto be.”
Dylan snorted. “Sounds to me like your ego got bent and you flew off the handle.”
My head reared back at that. “Excuse me?”
“Keris, you just admitted to having the best sex of your life,” she replied. “You said that the night had been phenomenal and that you believed you guys were headed to a good place.”
“Yeah, so?”
“So, you woke up, went in search of him, then heardhalfof an argument, and automatically sided with his father,” she went on. “You didn’t hear him proclaiming his newfound love for you, so you automatically believed what his father had been saying. You didn’t even ask him about the whole conversation. You found him guilty on the parts that you’d heard, never thinking that he might have declared his love earlier in the conversation.”
“That’s not-”
“You fell in love, then you got butthurt because you eavesdropped on a conversation that sounded like he hadn’t done the same,” she continued with the same blunt force that she always delivered her opinion. “By your own words, all you heard was Brantley telling his father to stay out of your guys’ marriage. How did that become Brantley only sleeping with you to get you pregnant?” She leaned back in her seat. “And let’s not forget, the guy has every right to want children. Did he ever tell you that hedidn’twant them?”
“Are you seriously taking his side here?” I asked, choosing to be hurt rather than entertain how she might be right.
However, before she could answer, a shadow fell over the table. When we all looked up, it was to see Beau Kingston staring down at me like he wanted to rip my clothes off, and I’d never felt so violated before in my life.
“Well, well, well,” he drawled out, and it was easy to see that he was drunk and/or high. “If it isn’t the woman with the billion-dollar pussy.”
“Excuse me?”I hissed, wondering what the fuck he was talking about.
His blue eyes would remind me of Brantley’s if they weren’t bloodshot and leering. “You have got to be one hell of a fuck for my brother to pass over billions in potential profits,” he went on, and I really had no idea what he was talking about. “What’s your secret? I mean…because Rochelle is able to take tons of dick at the same time, and she was about as filthy as a woman could get. Yet, Brantley hadn’t cared about all that. So, I’m curious…what is it about you that’s got my brother making the stupidest decision of his life?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I bit out. “However, I think you need to leave.”
Beau snorted drunkenly. “Oh, c’mon…you’re going to tell me that you don’t know about the mines? Yeah, right.” Even though Beau was drunk, I could feel everyone at the table hanging on his every word.
“What about the mines?” I asked.
“He’s giving them back to you,” he announced, and I could feel my heart skip a beat in surprise.
“What?”
“I overheard him and my father arguing,” he went on, not caring that he was exposing a private conversation between his father and brother. “Brant’s going to pay Dad back the money used to bail your parents out of debt, then he’s going to return your mines to you with a nice, neat, uncontested divorce.” Beau got back to leering at me. “Since an annulment isn’t possible, that can only mean that you were more than willing to spread those legs for my brother, and you have to have one hell of a cunt on you to make him return those fucking mines.”
“You’re lying,” I automatically replied, but like Brantley had pointed out, he didn’t need the money.
“Oh, sweetheart,” he drawled out drunkenly. “If I were you, I wouldn’t change your last name just yet. Dad’s not so willing to part with those mines, so I hope you don’t mind fucking brothers, because I’m pretty sure I’ll be introducing you asmywife soon enough.”
Faron finally stood up at that. “You need to leave,” he told him.“Now.”
Beau just smirked his way. “Not a problem,” he said easily. “After all, I’ll have plenty of time with my future wife later.”
As soon as Beau walked off, Faron was taking his seat again, Huntley asking, “Do you think that’s all true?”
“He’s…he’s drunk,” I muttered. “Who knows…I mean, it’s possible.”
